Enemy: Questions about identity linger

Friday

Mar 28, 2014 at 12:01 AMMar 28, 2014 at 12:38 PM

The double is an ancient and irresistible literary theme, especially beloved by philosophically minded scaremongers such as Edgar Allan Poe, whose tale William Wilson serves as a concise classic on the matter. The idea of a second self - perhaps the manifestation of madness, an allegory come to life or the result of a supernatural glitch in the order of things - is both frightening and fascinating.

The double is an ancient and irresistible literary theme, especially beloved by philosophically minded scaremongers such as Edgar Allan Poe, whose tale William Wilson serves as a concise classic on the matter.

The idea of a second self — perhaps the manifestation of madness, an allegory come to life or the result of a supernatural glitch in the order of things — is both frightening and fascinating.

Movies make the conceit literal with the simple trick of using the same actor in two roles. Who can forget the two Kim Novaks driving James Stewart around the bend in Vertigo?

In Enemy, the Denis Villeneuve adaptation of a novella by Nobel Prize-winning Portuguese novelist Jos Saramago, Jake Gyllenhaal plays two uncannily identical residents of an unnamed Canadian city.

They are physically identical, in any case, but temperamentally distinct in ways that begin to suggest Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. And the question that haunts the film: Are they really different people or just sides of a single disordered personality?

Villeneuve seems less interested in solving that puzzle than in exploring its implications, especially for Adam, the first guy we meet.

He is a history professor who seems to lead a solitary, disciplined and less-than-happy life. He lectures his students on Hegel and returns to the spare, high-rise apartment where he is sometimes visited by his girlfriend, Mary (Melanie Laurent).

One night, while watching a DVD, Adam spots an extra who looks like him. After a bit of Internet stalking — as well as the more traditional kind — he finds his way to Anthony, who lives in a better-furnished high-rise apartment with his pregnant wife, Helen (Sarah Gadon).

The resemblance between them is so precise that when Adam telephones Anthony’s house, Helen mistakes him for her husband.

Anthony rides a motorcycle and favors leather jackets and sunglasses; Adam is a corduroy-jacket and Volvo kind of guy.

Much of the fun in Enemy, which is tightly constructed and expertly shot, lies in Gyllenhaal’s playful and subtle performance.

Whether the film transcends its own gimmickry is an open question and might be beside the point. Its style is alluring and lurid, a study in hushed tones and yellowy hues, with jolts of anxiety provided by loud, scary music.

You may be left wondering about some loose ends, but a movie such as this needs to make only so much sense.